The “Doubtful Guest” peeking out from your letters? Maybe a mysterious black-cloaked “Mystery!” figure standing watch over the address? Or a top-hatted skeleton gazing out at creditors?
That type of artwork by Edward Gorey could potentially be stuck on letters, cards, bills and solicitations all over the country, if supporters are successful in convincing the U.S. Postal Service that the late Yarmouth Port illustrator and writer should get his own stamp.
The ideal timing would be 2025, marking what would have been Gorey’s 100th birthday.
Fans of Edward Gorey are hoping to convince the United States Postal Service to
issue a set of Edward Gorey stamps in honor of the centennial of the artist’s birth.
From The Cape Cod Times dated March 4, 2022:
The idea to seek a Gorey stamp came from Patrice Miller, an artist, collector and member of the Gorey House board of trustees.
“We were trying to think of something to do for Edward’s centennial, at least for a start, and this seemed to be the perfect project to sink our teeth into,” Hischak said.
“This project fits very nicely within the mission of the Trust, which is to honor Edward’s creative and philanthropic legacy through promoting his literary and artistic works,” Sherman said. “So I think this will hopefully introduce him to a much larger audience.”
Unfortunately: “They’ve set a submission deadline of March 31.”
I don’t know if letters in support will be accepted after that date.
I was informed by a Gorey article in today’s The Guardian:
The Edward Gorey House, a museum opened in his 200-year-old house in Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after he died in 2000 aged 75, hopes to change that.
Last month they organised a letter-writing campaign to the US Postal Service, with Gorey now reaching “committee stage” for consideration as a celebrity stamp.
Hope it comes to pass. I would pay double for a pane of The Gashlycrumb Tinies.
© Edward Gorey House
